Zombie Mask
by Captain Blue
Summary: Matoro. Toa Mahri of Ice. Savior of the Great Spirit. Dead. In a dimension of gold light. With a million-and-one questions and only the Kanohi Ignika to ask.


It was cold. And Matoro was a Toa of Ice. He knew cold. But it was also dark. And silent. Absolutely silent. He felt weightless, too. Dark, cold, silent, weightless. This, he supposed, was death. Matoro could not remember how long it had been since he placed the Kanohi Ignika – the Legendary Mask of Life – on his face.

He remembered that. But he was dead. How could you be dead and still feel conscious? Then his eyes snapped open. He shut them almost as quick because of the bright light surrounding him. Slowly, cautiously, the Toa Mahri of Ice opened his eyes again. Everything around him was glowing gold. He looked down at his feet. He wasn't standing on anything. Weightless.

Matoro wondered if he should say anything, see if anyone was around. "H-hello?"

No answer. Not even an echo. Matoro then looked down at himself. He still looked like a Toa Mahri; Cordak Blaster in one hand, Twin Cutters in the other. He reached up to his mask. He was still wearing his Tryna – Mask of Reanimation.

"Wondering why you got that mask?" asked a voice, which disappeared as quickly as it came.

Matoro whipped around, expecting to see someone... but nothing. Just more golden light. "What–?"

"I said," said the voice again. "Thinking about your mask?"

"Who... what...??" Matoro spun around once more, and saw something floating in front of him. It was oval-shaped, and bobbed up and down slightly.

"Hello, Matoro," said the thing. Even though it had no facial features, Matoro was sure it was smiling.

"How did you–?"

"Don't you recognize me?" asked the thing, floating a little closer to the Toa. "After all, you saved me."

"Saved... you?" repeated Matoro slowly. "I... haven't saved anyone in a while." After, he wasn't sure how long it had been since he died.

"Well," said the thing. "You saved me. You're my guardian."

This seemed very familiar to Matoro. "Wait... a-are you...the Kanohi Ignika?"

The thing mad a nodding motion, tuning down the glow it had been radiating. "The one and only."

Matoro stared. "So... did I...?"

"You did," answered the Ignika. "You put me on, sacrificing yourself to save the Great Spirit. You sent your friends back to Metru Nui."

That Matoro remembered. His friends – his fellow Toa Mahri – fighting the Barraki outnumbered to give him time to swim to the Center of the Universe. "Yeah... and now I'm dead."

"Isn't it ironic, though?" said the Ignika. "The Toa with the ability to raise the dead... now dead himself."

Matoro shot a glare at the floating mask. "So why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you give me this mask?" Matoro asked. "Bringing back the dead... it's against a Toa's morals to kill in the first place!"

At first, the Ignika said nothing. Then it said, "Remember when you were a Toa Inika on Voya Nui? When you and your friends reached the Chamber of Death, you were asked to send one member forward to die. You stepped forward and completed the task."

Matoro nodded. "That's why?"

"Part of it." said the Ignika. "Did you know? Your leader, Jaller, was going to let himself get killed."

This was news to the Toa of Ice. He didn't know of this until now. "Why?"

"He felt it was his responsibility, as team leader."

"Does that explain the mask?"asked Matoro.

"I suppose. I turned you into the Toa Mahri when you came down the Cord. I changed your armor, your weapons, your masks."

"So why give me this one?" Matoro pointed to his Kanohi Tryna. "The Zombie Mask?"

"As a test." answered the Ignika. "You were much more kind than that idiot I had fused to before." The mask stared at Matoro. "Which I found surprising for a Toa of Ice."

Matoro didn't know how to reply to that. He couldn't remember why he went up to the Vezon and Kardas – who were frozen in time thanks to a special Zamor Sphere made by Axonn – to take the Ignika. 'Strange,' Matoro had said. 'It came off right when I touched it... almost as if it wanted me to have it.' That had seemed like a lifetime ago... even if it was only a few days or so.

"Matoro," the Ignika said, shaking the Toa out of his thoughts. "You were different than your friends. You, as a Matoran, didn't focus on Kohlii or things like that. You strengthened your mind, studying Rahi, becoming Nuju's translator."

Matoro hung his head a little. He had felt like he was never much of a hero. He wasn't as athletically strong as the other Toa, and his mask powers did not do much to improve his strength. "I don't know why I went with Jaller and everyone in those containers..."

"Listen," said the Ignika, voice sounding stern. "When I turned you into a Mahri, I gave you the Kanohi Tryna for a reason."

"What was the reason?"

"As a test. A test of your character."

Matoro was taken aback. "A test...?"

"You doubted yourself. But you did everything to prove it. You died in the Chamber of Death. So I gave you this mask, to see what you would do with it."

"It was immoral." cut in Matoro.

"It was my choice," The Ignika shot back. "I wanted to see what you – the Toa who saved me from Vezon and the Piraka – would do with it."

Matoro fell silent. He never used the mask often – it required large amounts of concentration to use properly. He had only every used it when he was out of options. "I didn't use it a lot."

"I understand," nodded the Ignika. "But you did well. Even with Teridax chasing after you."

"Teridax means nothing to me now that I'm dead." argued Matoro, pointing his Twin Cutters at the floating Mask in front of him. "There's nothing I can do."

"Even if you're not living," said the Ignika. "You can still have hope. Now, Toa Matoro... just because you are dead does not mean that your Destiny is complete."

Matoro stared. "So what does that mean?"

"How would I know?" countered the Ignika, staring to turn transparent. "After all, I'm just a mask... but I will be back, Toa Mahri Matoro..."

Then the Ignika disappeared, leaving Matoro alone, in the cold, quiet, weightless gold dimension to ponder the conversation that had just transpired.


End file.
